An exclusive business development program NGAL starts on Monday!

04.06.2017

This year, an exclusive business development program NGAL® (Network Globally, Act Locally) takes place from 5th to 24th June, engaging five universities from USA and Estonia. The program starts with the boot camp at UT IdeaLab and ends with a launch-camp in Charleston, USA. University of Tartu will be represented by two teams: STARTER program graduate Cody and the Coulomb Sailing Group.

NGAL®
is a three-week learning program for early-stage student teams. During the program, student teams will develop their MVP-s, get guidance from business mentors and have a chance to explore your business potential at the global market. The program ends with the pitching event in Charleston where the best teams will be awarded.

University of Tartu will be represented by two teams:
IdeaLab STARTER program graduate Cody and the Coulomb Sailing Program Group. Cody is a personal coding platform that teaches coding like Lingvist teaches languages, with numerous interactive exercises. The Coulomb Sailing Group is developing a business case in order to involve investors into the space technology sector and working with two cutting-edge technologies.

Team Cody in the finals of Kaleidoskoop in December 2016

One of the team members of the Coulomb Sailing Group, Triin Teppo is hoping to get a motivational boost from NGAL to go on with their project and dream even bigger. "We applied for the program because we see it as a good opportunity to understand how competitive our project will be in the international market," says Teppo.

According to Maret Ahonen, the Head of IdeaLab, NGAL is an unique project that gives young entrepreneurs the opportunity to develop their business models in a multicultural environment, with the support of international experts. "During the program, Estonian students can validate their business model in the US market, and American students learn about our start-up ecosystem," she explains the benefits for both parties.

Two teams representing University of Tartu: the Coulomb Sailing Group and Cody

This year, NGAL takes place for the third time, linking two Estonian and three US universities: University of Tartu, Tallinn University of Technology, College of Charleston, The Citadel (Military College of South Carolina) and Nebraska Wesleyan University.